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Preface

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australia’s national statistical agency. By providing trusted statistics and statistical leadership, the ABS supports public debate and helps Australians to make informed decisions in an increasingly complex world. In the context of increasing demand for statistics and continuing budget pressures, the ABS has set an ambitious forward work program for the next four years.

Over the next four years, the ABS will focus on two critical streams of work: the continued delivery of the world-class statistics and statistical leadership that our stakeholders expect from us, and the transformation of our business and our systems to ensure our long-term sustainability.

The ABS will continue to provide high quality statistical information to meet Australia’s most important statistical needs. We will do this by delivering objective statistical solutions that are increasingly flexible, accessible, timely and relevant. We will continue to coordinate and invest in the National Statistical Service, and we will continue to unlock Australia’s most valuable datasets while reinforcing the importance of confidentiality.

The ABS faces increasing demand for reliable, relevant statistical information to reflect the rapidly changing real-world environment. This environment also affects the resources and opportunities that enable us to deliver now and into the future. It is more and more difficult to reach people at home, recruit interviewers, and maintain ageing infrastructure. As a result, the costs of our current methods are increasing. However, these threats are complemented with significant opportunities. We have access to large, valuable datasets, better technology, and a compelling impetus for change. How we respond to our situation is critical.

Over the next four years, we will transform the way we collect, collate, manage, use, reuse and disseminate statistical information – establishing the ABS of the future. We will design an enterprise architecture model that defines the future ABS business model and maps out a pathway to get there, we will re-engineer our business processes and applications to support standardisation, integration, better information management and reuse. We will engage our audiences online, reduce our field costs, and create flexible collection forms that ask the most relevant questions.

The next four years are critical to the future of the ABS, and the future of official statistics in Australia. I am confident that our efforts will continue to address the challenges we face and produce the results we set out to achieve – while remaining true to our values and belief in the importance of high quality and trusted official statistics to informed decision making in Australia.

Brian Pink

Australian Statistician

June 2012